Beautiful Mornings

The weather this week has just been gorgeous. This week each morning has been below 60 degrees to start out and the sun is shinning in a cloudless sky. I don't think you could ask for more perfect weather.

This morning I got up and took off with my camera. The birds were just chirping and carrying on in the green trees and the flowers are just blooming everywhere. This is the time of year when it is impossible to stay indoors.

If you own a camera you just have got to get out and walk through the park or even just your neighborhood and capture some of the beauty.

Flower Portraits

I like to take flower portraits. I have found there are a few key elements to making a great flower portrait. You must have precise focus on the pistils and stamen of the flower and you must have a frame filled with the flower.

Use a tripod and a macro lens plus a plant clamp may be needed to ensure stability of your subject. The flower must be immobile.

Try to find a day with an overcast sky, this will make things much easier for the portrait.

I also found a new technique that can create a different type of look, an impressionist portrait. Take a look at this page and you will find an explanation of this technique.

Most important, have fun! http://www.squidoo.com/adviceonflowerphotography

Elusive Bluebird

We have an Eastern Bluebird that nests in our front yard every year. We have a cute birdhouse we bought at a flea market, it looks like a hollow tree trunk, and the bluebird seems to have taken out a yearly lease on it.

There are 3 babies in the nest now but the hole is so small I can not get a picture of the babies. She is very protective of the nest so it is hard to get near.

I try to get a picture of her but she is very camera shy.

Little River Canyon

We have been to DeSoto Falls numerous times but on our last trip we came upon a landscape photographers dream. We saw a sign for Little River Canyon and decided we should explore a new place instead of returning to DeSoto Falls again.

Lucky for us there had been lots of rain in the last 48 hours. The rain supplied the falls with lots of water, there were falls all around the canyon.

The road we took went along the rim of the canyon. There were a number of places to pull over and view the canyon and the falls, great spots to take beautiful photos, each stop provided an even more spectacular view than the previous. We stayed until sunset just amazed at how beautiful the canyon was and we plan to return this summer to take summer photos.

If you would like to see some of the photos please check this link http://Naturesglory.ifp3.com/site/#/gallery/landscapes/dsc02714-1/

Spring Birds

The birds are enjoying the spring flowers as much as I am. We have a young weeping cherry tree in our front yard and as you can see this little titmouse is loving the spring blooms.

I really look forward to spring and all the birds and flowers, it gives lots of color to everything. I have been spending time sitting on the front porch with my camera in my lap waiting on an Eastern Blue Bird to come and pose. She has a nest in a birdhouse we have hanging in the front yard. The problem is, she is not very camera friendly. We have to play a waiting game each evening.

I come out onto the front porch and she flies away, across the street into a big tree. She sits in the tree or on the gutter of the house next door and watches me and waits. I sit in my chair on the front porch and wait on her to return to the birdhouse or my yard. Guess who wins.

Yep, I typically give up and go inside before she gives in and returns to the yard.

About five minutes after I go into the house, I look out of the window and she has returned to the front yard again.

One of these days I know I will win.

Flowers are a Bloomin

Yes, the flowers are a bloomin! Spring is on it's way, lots of flowers are starting to bloom and it is time to get the camera out and start shooting.

I love the spring and I love to take flower photos. I have an article I wrote on flower photos please check it out at http://www.squidoo.com/adviceonflowerphotography there are a few tips on taking some nice flower photos.

Winter and Birds

Winter is not the best time of year for landscape photography. In the winter, the skies in Tennessee are not appealing most of the time. The skies are quite often grey, and rather one dimensional. These skies leave a dull lifeless feel to most of the landscape images you try to capture.

But if you do not mind turning to another subject for your images, you can get some really nice bird photos. The winter months create a lack of good food for the birds so the birds need to come to our feeders to eat. We put feeders close to the house, on our deck, and the birds just flock to the feeders. Then we just wait for the right bird and click, we get some great bird photos without leaving the warmth of the kitchen.

Winter may not produce blue skies but it does produce birds on our deck ready to be photographed!